After twelve weeks of the 2012-2013 broadcast television season (through Sunday, December 16, 2012), NBC is in first place among adults 18-49, with a 3.1 rating average, up 24% from last season. CBS was second, with a 2.9 rating average, down 12% from the prior season. ABC was third with a 2.5, down 4% from the previous season FOX was fourth with a 2.4, down 27% from last season. The CW finished last with a 0.8 adults 18-49 rating average, down 11% from the previous season. Note that the CW season/season comparison is an apples/oranges one because they began their show premieres late and aired a week+ of repeats and summer shows at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Among total viewers, CBS is ahead for the season averaging 11.827 million viewers. NBC is second with 8.825m, followed by ABC with 8.739 m, FOX with 6.737m, and CW with 1.9 million.

Each adults 18-49 rating point is a percentage of the adults 18-49 US TV population and equals 1.265 million adults 18-49. The season-to-date numbers are "Most Current" ratings, which are Live+7 Day for all but the two most recent weeks and Live+ Same Day for the two most recent weeks.

@Robert Seidman – Is Hurricane Sandy week excluded this season since it was considered a breakout and none of the ratings that week counted toward season averages? (Or is that merely for individual shows – kind of like when shows are marked a (S) on Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving?

Nick

@DenverDean

Only that Monday’s episodes.

POI

the cw should get rid of their low rated shows such as 90210, HOD, NIKITA, B&TB. THEY SHOULD BRING NEW SHOWS IF THEY WANT THE NETWORK TO GO UP AND THEY CAN DO IT ON THE 2014-2015 SEASON WITH ENDING 90210 AND NIKITA NEXT SEASON AND GETTING NEW SHOWS THAT RATE HIGH.

Tony ^_^

CBS is slowly catching up to NBC…

rob60990

lmao at FOX, so well deserved.

NBC will start sinking very soon.

THE OLD MAN

CBS started out week one -27% & have cut it down to -12% by week 12

FOX should increase w/ AI in Jan, but NBC will fall hard by that time

Ultima

@MatchWitch network was number one the 2006-2007 season?

FOX. They’ve been the #1 network each of the past eight seasons.

Cass rowlwland

Abc Is only down 4 percent that’s good

http://tvbythenumbers.com Robert Seidman

@DenverDean: So far as I know Sandy week is still included. Individual telecasts marked special are excluded from the season averages for those particular shows, but those telecasts are still counted in the overall season average.

William Haney

I am happy for the Peacock Gang, but sadly I must ask, how much of the 18-49 success is from Sunday Night Football?

senor chang

Super Bowl + AFC Championship will put CBS over the top.

NBC/ABC will be interesting to watch. Consider that even with the NBC numbers inflated in the fall, ABC is 0.6 behind. That 2.5 will likely fall a bit further taking typical spring declines into account. Even assuming that ABC will stay steady (a generous assumption), NBC only has to stay above a 1.9 average in the fall. I’m thinking that’s possible, especially considering that they’ll have the Voice back in March.

The other question is how much American Idol will help FOX. Replace a reality show averaging in the high 2s with one that will likely average in the low 4s = an increase of ~0.3 (3/15 hours getting a boost of around 1.5 in the demo = 0.3). I do realize this is incredibly presumptuous, but this is all for fun.

Basically, FOX/NBC/ABC will shake out quite interestingly this season. They could all range in the same area, converge wildly, or stack neatly into second/third/fourth. Who knows?

senor chang

*NBC only has to stay above a 1.9 average in the WINTER. silly me.

http://tvbythenumbers.com Bill Gorman

“I am happy for the Peacock Gang, but sadly I must ask, how much of the 18-49 success is from Sunday Night Football?”

About the same amount as the last six seasons.

http://tvbythenumbers.com Bill Gorman

“Basically, FOX/NBC/ABC will shake out quite interestingly this season. They could all range in the same area, converge wildly, or stack neatly into second/third/fourth. Who knows?”

Once we get into January, I’ll create a spreadsheet to do some projections of the race between NBC (as it drops) and FOX (as it rises) and ABC (as it stays pretty much level).